2015/16 Offseason: More active than Shakira's hips

[Quake Griffin]

just googled it.

doesnt have Frankie Montas in it I don't believe…unless I'm looking at the wrong one.
Pretty dope to see Cody Bellinger and Alex Verdugo getting acknowledged.

The old regime was trash at putting together a roster with the amount of resources we had but my goodness they left Friedman and Zaidi with a bunch of toys to play with.


Looking at what we have down there just lets me know teams are playing hardball with our team and probably just trolling us with "Urias or nothing" when we're working the phones. How can you look at what's in that stable and not salivate? My goodness. Like you said Neddy, by the time the season comes around, these other FOs that are playing tough now will want to make deals with us and we'll hold all the cards.

[Ranma]

Neddy's boy.

YUP! Im happy and proud for him. he will do great no matter where he goes, even for the lowly Browns.

Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated (1/6/16)

“From the standpoint of raw intelligence, Paul is the smartest person I’ve ever been around,” said Josh Byrnes, vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers, who worked with DePodesta in the Indians’ front office. “From a strategizing viewpoint, he’s brilliant. If the owner gives him enough runway, I have no doubt in a short time Paul will make an impact.”
...

In 1998, for instance, Byrnes, then the assistant director of scouting, and DePodesta, then an assistant in baseball operations, used those reports to scout for hidden gems in the minor league systems of other organizations. They found in the Detroit Tigers system a 26-year-old outfielder who had never advanced beyond Double-A and had very little power. They noticed that he did, however, show a consistent knack for getting on base—then an undervalued skill.

The player’s Double-A on-base percentage was .434 on June 24, 1998. That’s when the Indians traded slugger Geronimo Berroa to get pitcher Tim Worrell and this speedy outfielder who was dead-ended in the Tigers system: Dave Roberts. Though Roberts had a tough time cracking the talented Indians’ lineup, he did go on to play 10 seasons in the major leagues, had the most famous and significant stolen base in Boston Red Sox history and was recently hired by Byrnes’ Dodgers to be their manager. (Berroa was out of baseball in three years, having hit just two home runs after the trade.)

After Oakland, DePodesta had a run as Dodgers general manager that lasted only 20 months before he was fired, a four-year run as an executive with the Padres, and his five-year stint with the Mets. One colleague with the Mets, who said he was not surprised by DePodesta leaving for football, described him as someone “always looking for a challenge,” who was “not just a baseball guy.” He characterized him as a brilliant systems analyst who “does not like confrontations,” a trait that may have worked against him in his tenure with the Dodgers.

Can a Moneyball Maven Fix the Browns?

[Ranma]

for whatever it's worth, dodgers rank #1 among the farm according to bleacherreport.

bleacherreport.com/articles/2604258-bleacher-reports-updated-farm-system-rankings-entering-2016/page/31


damn, forget it. I try to put the link under URL but it always ends up being a broken link. you guys can find which link I meant, for f it.

just googled it.

doesnt have Frankie Montas in it I don't believe…unless I'm looking at the wrong one.
Pretty dope to see Cody Bellinger and Alex Verdugo getting acknowledged.

Below is a screenshot of the rankings from the referenced article. Montas is 7th on the list, which is a little surprising. I can see Bellinger and Verdugo being ahead of Montas, but not Holmes. I like Bellinger better but I'd probably rank Montas 4th overall in current value to the organization.

[Quake Griffin]

And Sorry Neduardo.


**** Mike Piazza.
If he kept his frustration towards ownership, that would be one thing. But he continues to blame Vin Scully for how HE handled negotiations with the Dodgers. There's certain people you just don't **** with IMO as a Dodger fan and Vin is one of them.


I'm 27 bro. He's literally thee Dodger that enabled me to become a fan as a pup. Everybody needs some cool player/ group of guys to help break them in as a fan. Piazza was it for me but the constant runs he takes at Vin are unacceptable, unclassy and reek of being butthurt.

[Neddy]

And Sorry Neduardo.


**** Mike Piazza.
If he kept his frustration towards ownership, that would be one thing. But he continues to blame Vin Scully for how HE handled negotiations with the Dodgers. There's certain people you just don't **** with IMO as a Dodger fan and Vin is one of them.


I'm 27 bro. He's literally thee Dodger that enabled me to become a fan as a pup. Everybody needs some cool player/ group of guys to help break them in as a fan. Piazza was it for me but the constant runs he takes at Vin are unacceptable, unclassy and reek of being butthurt.

hey, I fully understand what you are saying and why you feel the way you do, and it's fine. millions of other dodger fans probably have the same feelings too. but I look at it like this...

you can have a nasty break up with your high school sweet heart who breaks you for years, and she is still spitting venom whenever she talks about you to other friends, but after many years, you only remember the good times and appreciate her for what she was back then. it doesn't have to be a reciprocating relationship, just something you cherrish from afar. doesn't mean you want her back, you have moved on with your life and simply doesn't have hard feelings, that's all.

[Quake Griffin]

I don't like that he's ready to go in with what we have now.
I miss having Greinke as my #2. I don't just want a solid pitchers 2-5. I want my dominant 1-2 punch and then a solid 3-5.


What is the strength of this team? Someone tell me.
Is it starting pitching? Is it bullpen? Defense? Our offense?
Man…can I just get a move that will allow us to dominate ONE aspect of the game of baseball.

I think we can win the division…CAN…But I wouldn't put that at a "will" I didn't blink the last 3 years having Greinke. I knew we were winning the division with that group.

[Ranma]

[Quake Griffin]

nvm.

heardh I'm say it out of his own mouth. Sounds like something else can happen.
disregard previous post.


watching the video you just posted now Ranma

[Quake Griffin]

you guys have any thoughts on the Denard Span signing in SF?

edit:
We're not going to announce Kazmir/ have a press conference for him?

[Ranma]

you guys have any thoughts on the Denard Span signing in SF?

edit:
We're not going to announce Kazmir/ have a press conference for him?

I don't know much about Span but he sounds like a player who can help the Giants with his table-setting and defense in the outfield. He's not a big-name signing but I didn't really expect them to get Upton, Gordon, or Cespedes given all the money they spent on pitching. However, I thought there was an outside chance since I figured they were going to do something to add to the outfield.

Kazmir signed on Sandy Koufax's birthday, but apparently there was no press conference. Just a conference call by Farhan Zaidi.

[Neddy]

What is the strength of this team? Someone tell me.
Is it starting pitching? Is it bullpen? Defense? Our offense?
Man…can I just get a move that will allow us to dominate ONE aspect of the game of baseball.

quality and depth at every position.

in the national league, all pitchers included that pitched in the national league, the league average stat line was 3.91 ERA, 3.88 FIP, and 3.88xFIP with 7.88K/9; 2.95BB/9; and 0.98HR/9.

our starters in 2015 (other than Ryu, which is from 2014, and Maeda, has no record in US.)

name --- ERA----FIP ----xFIP-----K/9----BB/9----HR/9

Kershaw 2.13; 1.99; 2.09 with 11.03K/9; 1.81BB/9; and 0.65HR/9
Ryu 3.38 ; 2.62 ; 3.03 with 8.23 ; 1.72 ; 0.47
Kazmir 3.10; 3.98; 4.14 with 7.62K ; 2.90BB ; 0.98 HR
Anderson 3.69 ; 3.94 ; 3.51 ; 5.79 ; 2.30 ; 0.90
Wood 3.84 : 3.69 ; ;3.90 ; 6.60 ; 2.80 ; .071
Maeda ----------------------------------------------
Bolsinger 3.62 ; 3.91 ; 3.82 : 8.07 ; 3.70 ; 0.91
Lee
Beachy
Wieland

it's fairly easy to see that aside from world's #1 pitcher Kershaw, Ryu is the clear #2, the next 4 are gonna be above league average, and have the next 3 who might get close to the league average while one of the three had been an above average in the past, in Beachy. in fact, as a team, the dodgers were the NL's second best in terms of pitching just behind the Cubs.

Catchers, we came 4th

1st base, we are 7th in NL
2nd base, even with defensively defiecnt Kendrick, we were 3rd in NL when it came to offensive production. **** won't be too far while increasing defensive ratings.
3rd base, we were 8th
SS, we were 8th while Jimmy Rollins was doing his best act of the death of saleman.
LF and RF, we were 3rd best, and]
CF, we were the 4th best.

consider the circumstances, Joc is still learning, Puig was in a season long slump, LF was anyone's job at any given time.

we are the team to beat, my man. we are the deepest team right now with the deepest team in terms of the future with prospects. we are the one. we own the national league.

[Ranma]

It looks like Dave Stewart is willing to give up the 37th overall pick to sign Howie Kendrick, after all. This would, in turn, give us the 32nd overall pick to go along with 22nd, 30th, and 36th, which is locked in. With Kendrick off the board, that would leave 7 remaining free agents who are eligible for draft-pick compensation, which pretty much guarantees us 4 first-round picks in the top 40 draft selection slots.

It's interesting that Kenta Maeda and Hisashi Iwakuma are good friends who wanted to pitch together on the same team. I figured that had the Dodgers not signed Maeda, he would have signed with Seattle but the Mariners were not among the teams reported to have interest in the final stages of his free agency. The Astros and Diamondbacks were the other teams reportedly in pursuit.

There is still a prevailing thought that the current abundance of outfielders in the free-agent and trade market is hampering any effort to deal Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford. Plus, Justin Upton is still holding out for a long-term commitment instead of settling for 1-year or other short-term offers.


idnt-h8urteam via DodgersDigest.com comments

Breaking: DBax and H. Kendrick is serious discussions. Deal could possibly get done today.

DBax needing to bring down payroll first, have a possible deal with another team willing to take A. Hill and C. Anderson.

A deal with a specific team is not set. They are shopping Hill and as compensation for taking him they are willing to throw in Anderson.

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Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com (1/8/16)

Another interesting twist: Maeda and fellow Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma are good friends who wanted to pitch for the same team, sources say. It might have happened with the Dodgers, but the team declined to complete a three-year, $45 million free-agent deal with Iwakuma after issues arose during his physical; he wound up signing a one-year, $12 million contract with the Mariners.

Rival scouts view Maeda as a potential No. 4 starter if he remains healthy. One scout praised the pitcher's slider, saying he "can throw it in a teacup," but added that Maeda needs outstanding command and control to be successful. Pitching that way will be problematic if Maeda is less than 100 percent.
...

*The glut of outfielders on the free-agent and trade markets could prevent the Dodgers from purging Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford before Opening Day. It might not be the worst outcome; the team needed the depth last season due to injuries.

Will the Nats Continue Their Makeover by Trading Their Top Lefty?


[tweet]https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/685572908480118784[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/685573133231878146[/tweet]

[Neddy]

probable 25 men roster as of right now with the depth in mind...

1. Kershaw
2. Anderson
3. Maeda
4. Kazmir
5. Wood
6. Jensen
7. Howell
8. Hatcher
9. Avilan
10. Baez
11. Garcia
12. Frias
13. Grandal
14. Gonzo
15. Utley
16. Seager
17. Turner
18. Ethier
19. Joc
20. Puig
21. Ellis
22. **** (he may get more at bats than Utley, but it will come from 2B, SS, 3B, CF, LF all combined)
23. Guerrero (guaranteed a roster spot by his contract)
24. SVS
25. Crawford

DL --- Ryu, McCarthy.

as Ryu recovers and makes his way back on the 25 men roster, whichever the underperforming 10,11,12th will be send down. I think Wood would become the long man. when McCarthy is back, I think it will be a fair game for anyone other then Kershaw and Jensen are subject for a demotion, depending on their performance and option availability.

[Neddy]

looking at that 25 men roster, we need at least one more piece for the bullpen that is a dominant setup guy, and get rid of Crawford, if possible.
I think the first goal is easy to retain, assuming we trade out some pieces from our pen plus a B level prospect for a better arm, or eat some major salary along the way. but I can't see how the latter can be achieved yet.

[Quake Griffin]

keep working on me. I'm almost sold Ned.
I like the depth of the rotation. I still just want that #2 ace. I'm hoping it's not just a confirmation bias thing. I've seen lesser rotations win. I'm thinking the Royals of last year and 2011 Cardinals…but man were those bullpens stellar.

Ethier has to go before those 10-5 rights vest. If he doesnt go before then, we have a problem. We wont just have one untradeable OF. We'll have 2….but make no mistake about it…Ethier has to go.

At this point, I'm willing to eat all of Carl Crawford's money. Paying him to be a pinch runner for some team > Paying him to hamper and stymie development of young guys who are actually good at their jobs, have arms and cover more ground in LF.


On the bullpen:
Think back to your thoughts on the day we acquired Frankie Montas and think about your thoughts on Frankie Montas post Maeda, Kazmir and Beachy.

Here's a cat with major league experience, quality high heat fastball/ slider combination that gets folks to swing and miss.

Friedman has said out of his own mouth that he views Frankie as a starter but my goodness….every action and suggestion afterwards has led me to believe, he's here to either get flipped or setup Kenley. I just don't see where he starts on the 2016 ball club. I don't see where he starts in 2017 either:

Kershaw
Ryu
Maeda
Urias ????
DeLeon????
Alex Wood???

I'm knocking on wood that this guy and his 100 mph FB/ slider combo is the next guy in our pen. I wouldn't even mind bringing him along like the Cardinals did Car Mart….but his acquisition is REALLY odd to me if he's not going to be in the pen or flipped.

[Ranma]

Glad to hear that the front office has been having similar thoughts as us regular Joe's with regard to the roster.

idnt-h8urteam via DodgersDigest.com comments

Heard yesterday that the Dodger approached Upton's agent to show some level of interest but only on a short term deal. ESPN reported Upton's agent's opinion on a short term for his client. Of course a lot of things have to go right for that to happen: Trade Craw or Ethier. Its not happening.

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[Quake Griffin]

Man, I can already tell some days are gonna be a feast and some days him and Joc would absolutely piss me off with all the freakin Ks.

Upton is silly if he doesnt come to us for 2 years and then hit FA at age 30.
He can do a helluva lot for himself featuring his bat and base running on a contender and the big stage.

[Neddy]

not sure if anyone is aware, but Oh is Detroit bound from Inchon, South Korea via airliner, and is on schedule to have a talk with the Tigers, Cardinals, Royals, and the Cleveland Indians for now.

[Neddy]

keep working on me. I'm almost sold Ned.
I like the depth of the rotation. I still just want that #2 ace. I'm hoping it's not just a confirmation bias thing. I've seen lesser rotations win. I'm thinking the Royals of last year and 2011 Cardinals…but man were those bullpens stellar.

Ethier has to go before those 10-5 rights vest. If he doesnt go before then, we have a problem. We wont just have one untradeable OF. We'll have 2….but make no mistake about it…Ethier has to go.

At this point, I'm willing to eat all of Carl Crawford's money. Paying him to be a pinch runner for some team > Paying him to hamper and stymie development of young guys who are actually good at their jobs, have arms and cover more ground in LF.


On the bullpen:
Think back to your thoughts on the day we acquired Frankie Montas and think about your thoughts on Frankie Montas post Maeda, Kazmir and Beachy.

Here's a cat with major league experience, quality high heat fastball/ slider combination that gets folks to swing and miss.

Friedman has said out of his own mouth that he views Frankie as a starter but my goodness….every action and suggestion afterwards has led me to believe, he's here to either get flipped or setup Kenley. I just don't see where he starts on the 2016 ball club. I don't see where he starts in 2017 either:

Kershaw
Ryu
Maeda
Urias ????
DeLeon????
Alex Wood???

I'm knocking on wood that this guy and his 100 mph FB/ slider combo is the next guy in our pen. I wouldn't even mind bringing him along like the Cardinals did Car Mart….but his acquisition is REALLY odd to me if he's not going to be in the pen or flipped.

well, I still see Montas as a bait rather than a part of the long term plan, but I would not be surprised one bit if he is our 8th inning setup man and possibly our future closer.

having said that, I still think Alex Wood and Montas are a part of much bigger deal that will turn them into something else that will be a much bigger asset of our team moving on. but if they are gonna stay, I wouldn't be sad about it.

[Quake Griffin]

How do we get rid of Alex Guerrero?

He's taking up roster space